Study: Alcohol more lethal than heroin, cocaine

LONDON -- Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the body, in addition to criteria such as environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services and prison.

Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, Ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.

The study was paid for by Britain's Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online today in the medical journal Lancet.

Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but also for those around them.